Hitting thin

[garagefan66]

I'm a swinger but have been fiddling around with hitting a little lately. I hit my pitching wedge working through basic and acquired motion (basic motion is much simpler with hitting IMO) then total motion. The compression was so awesome and addicting. Unfortunately when I moved up to a 6 iron I could not make clean contact very easily. Most of the shots were thin with the 6 iron. I know I'm just starting on my hitting quest, and I will put in the time in drill and basic motion but is there something I'm missing with the longer irons? Am I running out of right arm? Any help would be welcome. I would really like to be a hitter some day.

[yodeli]

Hi garagefan66

It seems that you are on the right track with Hitting: If you can compress it well on Basic motion it means that you are doing good on the geometry.

However, your trouble with the longest irons certainly comes from rythm .
Unlike the Swinger with his "instant hips acceleration" as a Hitter you MUST have a very very slow stardown (think slow AND heavy) and the shortest backswing you can do.
Fail to do both and you will run out of right arm prematurely = Thin shots.

• As a swinger you are used of the "instant hips acceleration": It means that the swinger accelerates his hands very fast very soon in the downswing and then keeps their speed constant.
• As a hitter, you must keep accelerating evenly with a slow startdown.

The funny thing is that the slower and the shorter you go, the more compression you'll get!

[garagefan66]

Thanks yodeli. Thinking back on my last range session the thin shots were definitely quick and jerky. I will work on the slow and heavy motion. If I can get that sweet compression that I felt with the PW with every other club in my bag I will be saying bye bye to my swinging motion completely. Wish me luck.

[garagefan66]

Duplicate post

[garagefan66]

I worked all week on my alignments trying to feel slow and heavy and making sure I take the hands back no farther than shoulder high. I went back to the range yesterday and just hit a ton of PW and 9 irons with acquired motion and had a lot of success, great compressions. I am, however, still struggling with the long clubs. Not as bad as last week (2 thin shots and 1 shank) but I am still not where I am with the PW. I will continue to work on my hitting stroke in practice only and play with the swinging stroke as I have fewer misses with the swinging motion.

[yodeli]

Ok, let's try something else:

What differs from a PW to a 3 iron?
Answer: ball position relative to LOW POINT.

The good news here is that the low point is the same for all your clubs in the bag: it is located in front of your left shoulder.
So if you manage to hit it well with a PW and REALLY go to low point, you should have the same success with a 3 iron.

Your lack of success with the 3 iron is maybe a good clue that you don't drive to low point: You can go away with it with a PW because you can make decent ball/turf contact without going to low point: it works in compressing the ball but you'll lose accuracy because you break the ideal geometry of the stroke.

But with a 3 iron this won't work.

As a swinger you probably wasn't paying much attention to low point because centrifugal force pulls everything out and send the club head to low point almost automatically (provided you keep you flat left wrist of course )

But as a hitter you must make a real effort to go there.
Don't forget: driving DOWN is not enough, you must also go OUT or you'll fail to find the correct low point!
Think crossline.

Maybe you already do all this good but you should check it anyway!

[garagefan66]

You may have something there yodeli. I understand where low point is and I adjust my ball position with different clubs in relation to low point in my set up but it's not anything I think about in my stroke. With hitting, I drive pp1 at the ball. With swinging, I direct cf at the ball with pp3. Should I actually be driving/directing thrust to low point? Aim at low point?

[yodeli]

You may have something there yodeli. I understand where low point is and I adjust my ball position with different clubs in relation to low point in my set up but it's not anything I think about in my stroke. With hitting, I drive pp1 at the ball. With swinging, I direct cf at the ball with pp3. Should I actually be driving/directing thrust to low point? Aim at low point?

Yes, exactly!
It is indeed very different that aiming at the ball.

Think about it:

• For a 3 iron, low point could be an inch after the ball and a little to the outside.
• For a driver, low point could be an inch before the ball and (a very) little to the inside (if you want to hit slightly up on the ball!).

In those two examples, if you direct the thrust at the ball you may end up with moving your low point and your entire machine to comply - sway and bob!

[garagefan66]

Wow, thanks yodeli! That makes a lot of sense.

[garagefan66]

Well I have been working very hard on my basic curriculum with the help of suggestions from O.B Left and yodeli and others and watching the Colin Neeman videos over and over. I discovered that I had not been keeping a flat left wrist, it was close but not flat! Hard to believe I have been half-assing one of the three imperatives. Anyway, I went to the range and had the most fun just going through the bag hitting shots with basic and acquired motion, driving my flat left wrist down out and forward (I could've used some more down in hindsight) with my #1pp. I never stroked it with my swinging motion (I'm a hitter now ). It was a blast! No thin shots, no shanks, just tons of compressions and solid shots. I am battling some low left shots with the longer clubs. I might be overdoing the out in my hitting stroke or maybe a little quick. The long clubs were the last ones I hit so maybe my rhythm was off a bit. Anyway, I would like to thank Homer, Lynn, O.B., yodeli, and everybody else on these forums for all the great insight into G.O.L.F. I'm hooked on hitting!